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The University of New Hampshire School of Law (nee the Franklin Pierce Law Center) is launching a program that will offer practical training opportunities to students who wish to pursue a career in sports and entertainment law. The National Law Journal has the story:

The
school will launch a Sports and Entertainment Law Institute next fall
that will combine courses, workshops, externships and conferences aimed
at preparing students to practice in those fields. Leading the institute
will be Michael McCann, who now teaches sports law at Vermont Law
School. He is co-author of the popular Sports Law Blog and a legal
analyst for Sports Illustrated.

"The Sports and
Entertainment Law Institute will be a great pairing with our historic
strengths in trademark and copyright law," dean John Broderick said. "We
are very fortunate to have Michael McCann, one of the most exciting
legal scholars in the country, leading the way."

McCann said he
anticipates offering two sports law courses—one focused primarily on the
law of professional sports, the other on amateur and international
sports. Classes will cover major sports leagues including the National
Football League and National Basketball Association, but also NASCAR and
skiing.

"The scope of sports law continues to grow, and types
of legal issues that arise are also increasing," McCann said. "With
sports, you're dealing with intellectual property law, contract law,
criminal law and even immigration law."

Those areas are also
relevant to entertainment law, and the law school expects to offer a
class in that area as well, he said. McCann hope the institute will
collaborate with the university's business school and athletic program.
Students will have opportunities to extern with area sports and
entertainment companies, including equipment manufacturers, agents,
broadcasters or teams, he said.

Sports law programs have been
growing in popularity. Marquette University Law School has run a widely
respected program since 1989, and Tulane University Law School and Duke
Law School also have well-regarded programs. Villanova University School
of Law established a program in 2012 with a $5 million donation.

McCann
acknowledged that these programs have their critics, who contend there
are too few jobs in these practice areas; he said he is the first to
warn students against fantasies of becoming hotshot sports agents à la
Jerry Maguire right out of law school.

But there are plenty of
overlooked opportunities in sports law, he said. For instance, colleges
and universities often like to hire attorneys as compliance officers who
enforce NCAA, state and federal rules, he said, and sports can start
out as a small component of a practice that grows over time.